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The echo of our footsteps bounced off high ceilings and distant walls. I could hear the faint drip of water somewhere to my left.
“Up the stairs now,” Sunny said.
My shin barked gently against the metal edge of a step as he pulled me to a stop. “There you go. Right ahead of you. One step, then another. That’s it.”
He sounded so fucking careful of me for a kidnapper. Clearly, no one planned to murder me today.
But I knew sometimes plans went awry.
We reached the top of the stairs, and they steered me down a hall.
“Sunny, what do you want?” My voice trembled less than I expected. My other senses sharpened in response to the dark. The air was heavy with the acrid scent of rust and oil, and it felt so thick with the damp that it seemed to lay on my skin.
“Keep quiet for now,” Sunny’s voice in my ear made me shiver, as if it were a violation. Only my men were allowed to be so close to me. “I'll keep you safe, Kennedy. Just...stay calm.”
We kept moving. My other captor released me, and my skin seemed to burn where he’d touched me. I wished I wasn’t bound so I could wipe away his touch.
A door jamb or wall brushed my arm, and then we stopped. Sunny’s hands grasped both my upper arms, turning me. The knot that had caught up some of my hair pulled painfully, and then the blindfold fell away.
Blinking against the harsh glare of fluorescent lights, I squinted at the windowless office. It was stark—a desk, two chairs, and filing cabinets that were an olive-drab color that Crayola might label ‘depression green.’ Through the frosted glass partition, I caught a glimpse of a shadow moving past, carrying a long barrel that made my heart stop.
My eyes flew past him to the door. It was closed. We were alone.
“Are you working with Greyson?” My heart clung to a sliver of hope that I let him hear in my voice. Even if my optimism wasmisplaced, he might let his defenses down if he thought I was feeling safe with him. “Are you going to help me?”
“Of course,” Sunny promised confidently, but something in his gaze flickered, a tightening around his eyes that betrayed his words. It was a microexpression, gone as quickly as it appeared, but it was enough.
“Good.” I forced a smile, playing the part he needed me to play. “I trust you.”
His nod was almost imperceptible, and I wondered if he saw through my façade as easily as I saw through his. But there was no time to question it further. Not now. Not when survival hinged on my wits.
My men would come through those doors, sooner or later. I intended to be there to kiss them hello.
And ideally, I’d like to be ready to end these stupid assholes who had taken me. I wanted to protect my men as much as they wanted to protect me.
“Stay here, Kennedy,” Sunny said, his voice oddly gentle against the backdrop of my pounding heart. As if I had any choice. “Just hang tight.”
“Sure,” I murmured.
I watched him, noting the slight hesitation before he moved toward me. His fingers brushed against my wrists, and the zip ties fell away, leaving painful ghosts of the pressure where they had dug into my skin.
“Trying to stay on Greyson’s good side, just in case?” The attempt at humor sounded embarrassingly fake.
“Kennedy,” Sunny paused, and his eyes met mine, dead and empty. He might be pretending, but I didn’t think he was capable of compassion for me. “If Greyson finds me, I know I’m dead.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why are you doing this?”
He was standing close to me, too close. My gaze locked onto his face, and suddenly, it was as if the world tilted on its axis. Irememberedhis face, distorted by the flash of headlights and a surge of adrenaline, that had haunted my nightmares.
The memory punched through me like a fist. I almost stumbled backward, gasping for air, struggling to anchor myself in the present. I could feel the phantom ache of impact where none had occurred, the terror of tires screeching on asphalt.
“I’m sorry, Kennedy.” His voice was filled with regret that sounded genuine.
But I had the feeling he was playing yet another game, just like I was.
Then he turned and walked out, leaving me alone with the cold truth settling into my bones.
Had Sunny been trying to kidnap me that night when Sebastian pushed me out of the way?
